Dr Leslie Cousens is Senior Director, GI Search & Evaluation Lead, R&D BD Center for External Innovation, Takeda (Boston/Cambridge, MA). She is an immunologist and seasoned biopharmaceutical leader with a cross-sector career spanning academic immunology research, biotech innovation, and major pharma strategy roles.
At Takeda, she leads GI Search & Evaluation within the Center for External Innovation, where she identifies, assesses, and advances promising external science and partnership opportunities in support of the GI & Inflammation Therapy Area. Before joining Takeda, she spent over eight years at AstraZeneca, progressing through roles in Translational Medicine and later Business Development, Licensing & Strategy within the Respiratory & Immunology organization. Her earlier biotech experience includes serving as Scientific Director of Protein Therapeutics at EpiVax, Inc., where she drove discovery research & development, as well as academic & industry partnerships.
Dr. Cousens holds a PhD in Biology and Medicine from Brown University, providing the strong scientific foundation that underpins her work at the intersection of innovation and strategic R&D growth.
